Movie Review: What to Expect When You’re Expecting
It seems as of late that film adaptations of novels are causing frenzy among fans of the source material. What to Expect When You’re Expecting is another book turned romantic comedy loaded with an ensemble cast playing unrealistic characters in ill-matched relationships. The film which doesn’t focus on any of the educational tips provided by the must have book for parents-to-be, focuses primarily on the lives of five couples and their experiences through pregnancy.
The first couple is television fitness guru Jules (Cameron Diaz) and dancer Evan (Matthew Morrison). Jules finds herself pregnant by her fellow dance partner Evan after winning a wannabe Dancing with the Stars dance show. Jules has a Type-A personality and feels that she should make all the decisions concerning the baby, from naming the baby to whether or not the baby should be circumcised. I don’t know whose idea it was to pair Diaz and Morrison together, but they were the most awkward and unbelievable couple in the film. (Was it just me or was I the only one distracted by Diaz’s too muscular body to focus on her any of her scenes?)
Rosie (Anna Kendrick) and Marco (Chace Crawford) are a young couple who engage in unprotected sex on their first encounter. The result of the one night stand is an unexpected pregnancy which brings the two food truck competitors together. Luckily, Marco is excited to be a young dad and doesn’t portray the stereotypical bail out dad that we constantly see on daytime television.
Holly (Jennifer Lopez) and her husband Alex (Rodrigo Santoro) are desperately seeking to adopt a baby, well at least Holly is. Holly and Alex are an infertile couple going through the woes of adoption, both financially and emotionally. Alex is a less than supportive husband who isn’t excited about adopting a baby. He’s fearful of the idea of parenthood and seeks parental advice from the walking Dudes group (Chris Rock, Rob Huebel, Thomas Lennon, and Amir Talia – four whiny dads who have no business providing any advice much less being left unsupervised with their own babies).
Cameron Diaz and Matthew Morrison in “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” © 2012 – Lions Gate.
The couple I was more interested in was ultimately Wendy (Elizabeth Banks) and Gary (Ben Falcone). Wendy is the owner of the retail store, The Breast Choice, who can’t wait to get pregnant and experience the “glow” of pregnancy. Little does she know that once she’s pregnant she encounters nonstop discomfort and hormonal mood swings which make her scenes the best in the film. Competing with this couple is Gary’s douche of a dad, NASCAR driver Ramsey (Dennis Quaid) and his young trophy wife, Skylar (Brooklyn Decker). While Wendy and Gary have a less than perfect pregnancy they are constantly upstaged by Ramsey and Skylar’s perfect and “glowing” pregnancy.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting falls short of what I expected. There was too much jumping around from couple to couple to allow me to connect with any of the characters which made the film choppy in places. Hollywood needs to stop throwing all of the big name actors in one film just so they can market it because this movie was a dud. Even Chris Rock couldn’t save the film in his scenes which at times only managed to deliver lackluster comedy.
